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:<math>E = \int_\Omega \left(\frac{1}{2}|\nabla v|^2 - vf\right)\,\mathrm{d}x</math> :<math>E = \int_\Omega \left(\frac{1}{2}|\nabla v|^2 - vf\right)\,\mathrm{d}x</math>


amongst all twice differentiable functions <math>v</math> such that <math>v=g</math> on <math>\partial\Omega</math>, provided only that there exists one such function making the Dirichlet's integral finite. This concept is named after the German mathematician ]. amongst all twice differentiable functions <math>v</math> such that <math>v=g</math> on <math>\partial\Omega</math> (provided that there exists at least one function making the Dirichlet's integral finite). This concept is named after the German mathematician ].


Since the Dirichlet's integral is bounded from below, the existence of an ] is guaranteed. That this infimum is attained was taken for granted by ] (who coined the term ''Dirichlet's principle'') and others until ] gave an example of a functional that does not attain its minimum. ] later justified Riemann's use of Dirichlet's principle. Since the Dirichlet's integral is bounded from below, the existence of an ] is guaranteed. That this infimum is attained was taken for granted by ] (who coined the term ''Dirichlet's principle'') and others until ] gave an example of a functional that does not attain its minimum. ] later justified Riemann's use of Dirichlet's principle.

Revision as of 12:57, 15 January 2009

Not to be confused with Pigeonhole principle.

In mathematics, Dirichlet's principle in potential theory states that, if the function u(x) is the solution to Poisson's equation

Δ u + f = 0 {\displaystyle \Delta u+f=0\,}

on a domain Ω {\displaystyle \Omega } of R n {\displaystyle \mathbb {R} ^{n}} with boundary condition

u = g  on  ∂ Ω , {\displaystyle u=g{\text{ on }}\partial \Omega ,\,}

then u can be obtained as the minimizer of the Dirichlet's energy

E [ v ( x ) ] = ∫ Ω ( 1 2 | ∇ v | 2 − v f ) d x {\displaystyle E=\int _{\Omega }\left({\frac {1}{2}}|\nabla v|^{2}-vf\right)\,\mathrm {d} x}

amongst all twice differentiable functions v {\displaystyle v} such that v = g {\displaystyle v=g} on ∂ Ω {\displaystyle \partial \Omega } (provided that there exists at least one function making the Dirichlet's integral finite). This concept is named after the German mathematician Lejeune Dirichlet.

Since the Dirichlet's integral is bounded from below, the existence of an infimum is guaranteed. That this infimum is attained was taken for granted by Riemann (who coined the term Dirichlet's principle) and others until Weierstraß gave an example of a functional that does not attain its minimum. Hilbert later justified Riemann's use of Dirichlet's principle.

See also

References

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